rec.autos.simulators

David Stamper
Diamond Star Racing

What's the problem?

Jan.
=---

Mike
http://www.racesimcentral.net/

--
Philippe "Philster" Sergerie

-Marty

http://www.racesimcentral.net/;

:-(

If Codemasters really does drop the ball on IndyCar Series, you can
always check out my NEW "All-American Open Wheel Racing" mod for
NASCAR Heat, though:

http;//irlheat.bhmotorsports.com/

Decent physics, PLUS a reasonable***pit view -- what more could you
ask for?

;-)

-- JCB

"Well, another company is making a game with our track." My reply, in
the land of fantasy, would've been "boo ****ing hoo". You paid for the
software (NASCAR Heat), so you should be allowed to modify it however
you like. That, in my opinion, is fair use. Charging for it or any kind
of defamation isn't.

If I were to go make a Firebird in zmodeler and toss it into a sim, I
doubt GM would throw a fit over it. If anyone wanted to push the matter,
I'd say it was art (which it is) and only give it to friends. Nothing
wrong with that.

Then again, there is a Indianapolis track for a certain freeware sim.
Why aren't they throwing a tantrum over that?

-Will

   I think the legal types at Codemasters were attempting to prevent the
dilution of an upcomming product.  If there is a freely available IRL mod,
then the early birds who usually make up a big portion of software sales,
might not be so interested in a commercial version.  Or...they don't want
to look bad compared to John's effort, which would have had at least one
feature not available in the Codemaster's release, and that would be
multiplayer...MP that can handle about 20 or so drivers to boot.
dave henrie

It still doesn't explain, though, why they're not sending a cease and
desist order to "that other sims" Indy track creator. Technically, the
person is using their intellectual property illegally as well.

I'd love to see Mr. Bodin's story hit all the major PC mag rags. It
would possibly, and if so, seriously undermine their ability to perform
well in the PC market. The bad press is warranted, I believe.

These game companies want to keep a tight reign on their software. And,
truthfully, I can't blame 'em. Yet the best part of being in the racing
sim community is seeing the great work people put out in regards to
mod's. Fer chrissakes, take a look at what folks have done with GPL.
This little niggle reminds me of the Daytona track that was being
designed for NASCAR Racing 2, before ISC got into the mix and nixed it.

It's no wonder I throw my support behind people and companies who want
customers to use their software creatively. It seems to me that the best
purchase I ever made was of the Need For Speed series. Plenty of user
created vehicles and tracks amounted to days of fun.

-Will

Codemasters haven't made anything resembling a sim in the last 6 years, so
nobody's getting their hopes up. Absense of***pit gauges should not,
however, suggest arcade. LFS had no***pit gauges in the early versions.
Real Carsim didn't even have***pit view. I wouldn't class either as
arcade, though.

Also, graphics don't enter the equation. They are a nice extra, not a
requirement.

Jan.
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I lost interest in the product for 2 reasons:

1) Codemasters
2) IRL

You have a point, I should have been more clear.

If we start from the premise of the game being a simulation, graphics don't
enter into the picture as I think we've established that combining
simulation with mass market appeal is a futile excercise.

For an arcade inspired game, you are right. It's got to have the visuals to
wow the public. I haven't seen the release version, but the***pit graphics
in the Race Driver beta-demo (another Codemasters release) were ***ugly
too, so they might improve (or not).

Jan.
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Larry

Larry